Evaporant cooling system

ABSTRACT

AN EVAPORANT COOLING SYSTEM FOR A LIGHT WEIGHT GARMENT HAVING A PLURALITY OF TUBES CONNECTED IN PARALLEL BETWEEN AN INLET MANIFOLD AND AN EXZHAUST MANIFOLD, THE TUBES BEING SELECTIVELY POSITIONED ON THE BODY OF THE WEARER, THE INLET MANIFOLD BEING NEAR A LOW POINT OF THE WEARER FOR BEING SUPPLIED WITH A LIQUID AMMONIA-WATER EVAPORANT, AND THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD BEING NEAR A HIGH POINT OF THE WEARER AND BEING PROVIDED WITH AN EXHAUST TUBE FOR DISCHARGING THE EXPENDED EVAPORANT.

March 1s, 1971v D. l.. cumls 3,570,264

EVAPORANT COOLING SYSTEM Filed MalCh 15, 1969 IN VENTOR.

DA/V/E'l. L. CURT/S United States Patent O 3,570,264 EVAPORANT COOLINGSYSTEM Daniel L. Curtis, Manhattan Beach, Calif., assignor to LittonSystems, Inc., Beverly Hills, Calif. Filed Mar. 13, 1969, Ser. No.806,970 Int. Cl. FZSd 23/12 U.S. Cl. 62-259 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE An evaporant cooling system for a light weight garment havinga plurality of tubes connected in parallel between an inlet manifold andan exhaust manifold, the tubes being selectively positioned on the bodyof the wearer, the inlet manifold being near a low point of the wearerfor being supplied with a liquid ammonia-water evaporant, and theexhaust manifold being near a high point of the wearer and beingprovided with an exhaust tube for discharging the expended evaporant.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The effectiveness and safety of re fighters,heavy equipment operators, or industrial workers in gas tight clothingnecessitates that some `form of cooling the wearers of such clothing beprovided. Enclosing the subject in such protective garments precludesnormal ventilation and radiation cooling. The wearers effectiveness istherefore reduced by the accumulation of his own body heat in additionto heat inputs from the external environment. A iire fighter, forexample, even with protective clothing can exist for only a few minutesin a re without some form of external cooling.

Some prior art devices have utilized a replaceable Dry Ice chargecarried in a special container while other prior art systems haveemployed a supply of liquid oxygen or liquid air as part of the system.The former approach adds excess bulk and weight and weight and islimited in its utility while the latter approach would be feasible asboth a cooling and breathing gas supply system but is not practical fora general purpose solution to the problem as the requirement for longterm liquid air storage would -greatly limit its effectiveness.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new andimproved evaporant cooling system.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improvedevaporant cooling system for utilization in a light weight coolinggarment.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a new and improvedevaporant cooling system which utilizes an expendable evaporant.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a new andimproved evaporant cooling system which utilizes an evaporant which canexist in a liquid state at room temperature for convenient storage.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a new andimproved evaporant cooling system which is eicient in its use, simple inits operation, and adds very little additional bulk or weight.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The foregoing and other objects of theinvention are accomplished by providing a liquid ammonia-water evaporantfrom an inlet manifold to a plurality of cooling tubes encircling thedesired part of the -body of the wearer which tubes are connected inparallel between the inlet manifold and an exhaust manifold which has anexhaust tube connected thereto for discharging the ex pended evaporant.

3,570,264?` Patented Mar. 16, 1971 Other objects, features, andadvantages of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich the sole ligure shows the evaporant cooling system according tothe invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawingthere is shown an evaporant cooling system generally designated 10,which includes a coolant canister 12 having a valve 14 for controllingthe flow of pressurized liquid ammonia-water evaporant containedtherein.

The evaporant is released through the valve 14 through a tube 16 to aninlet manifold 18. The inlet manifold 18 includes serially connectedflexible tubing 20 and rigid tubing 22, `the rigid tubing 22 beingprovided with a plurality of nipples 24 to which are alixed a pluralityof flexible cooling tubes 26 which extend upwardly to an exhaustmanifold 28. The free end 30 of inlet manifold 18 is capped as is oneend 32 of exhaust manifold 28.

The exhaust manifold 28 is provided with a plurality of nipples 34 towhich the other ends of cooling tubes 26 are connected. The other end ofthe exhaust manifold 28 is provided with an exhaust tube 36 fordischarging the expended evaporant to the atmosphere.

Structurally the cooling system 10 is configured for placing about theupper part of torso of a wearer, and for convenient usage may -beinterwoven with or enclosed by fabric in the form of a vest or coat withthe canister 12 adjacent the front of the wearer for convenient control.The inlet manifold 18 is positioned at a low point of the system, forexample, adjacent the waist of the wearer. The cooling tubes 26 areselectively positioned on the body of the wearer. Tubes 26 are connectedin parallel relationship and extend upwardly to the exhaust manifold 28positioned adjacent a high point of the system, adjacent the shouldersof the wearer on his back. The exhaust manifold 28 may be rigid,semi-rigid or exible.

Operationally in one embodiment the inlet manifold 18 permanentlycontains a small amount of water at a low point in the system. Thecanister 12 contains pressurized liquid ammonia which, when dischargedby actuation of valve 14 partially vaporizes and is initially partiallyabsorbed by the water in the system. The water then acts as a transportmechanism allowing subsequent evaporation and thus cooling to occurthroughout the system. The ammonia interacts with the water causing thewater to be in a constant state of agitation providing coolingthroughout the system 10 without loss of water through the exhaustmanifold 28 at the high point of the system.

The water serves the essential role of distributing the cooling throughthe cooling system 10. The system Will not work without the water as theammonia will completely vaporize at the control valve 14 withessentially all the cooling taking place at this point. The cold gaspassing through the remainder of the system 10 will produce only minimalcooling.

In a second embodiment the canister` 12 contains a liquid ammonia-watermixture under pressure. Although in this embodiment the filled storageweight of the evaporant is slightly heavier by the added weight of thewater. This embodiment ensures that a small amount of water is alwayscontained in the remainder of the system 10. With the ammonia-watermixture the amount of water required in canister 12 would be about 5% byweight to the stored ammonia. The exhaust ammonia vapor is discharged ineither embodiment through a flexible exhaust tube `36 which is disposedon the back side of the wearer and is directed downwardly and away fromthe wearer to lbe discharged into the atmosphere.

While these have been shown and described preferred embodiments, it isto be understood that various other adaptations and modifications may bemade Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A system for cooling a human -body comprising:

(a) an inlet manifold located along a lower portion of the body at a lowpoint in the system;

(b) an outlet manifold located along an upper portion of the body at ahigh point in the system;

(c) a plurality of cooling tubes connected in parallel between saidinput and output manifolds, said cooling tubes being disposed throughouta garment to be worn by a wearer and capable of selective positioningabout a portion of the Ibody of the wearer;

(d) controllable means for providing an equal concentration of a liquidammonia and water mixture in said inlet manifold whereby said ammoniavaporizes uniformly throughout said input manifold thereby providinguniform cooling in each of said plurality of tubes; and

(e) an exhaust tube connected to said exhaust manifold and adapted todischarge the ammonia vapor to ambient in a direction downwardly andrearwardly of the human body.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said controllable means includes acanister containing pressurized liquid ammonia and having a valveconnected to the output of 4 said canister for controlling the ow ofammonia therefrom, the output of said canister being connected to saidinlet manifold and said inlet manifold containing a small amount ofwater, said ammonia being partially vaporized and partially absorbed bysaid water to produce uniform cooling in each of said plurality oftubes.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said controllable means includes acanister containing a mixture of liquid ammonia and water under pressureand having a valve connected to said canister for controlling the flowof mixture therefrom, said canister being connected to said inletmanifold and said ammonia being partially vaporized and partiallyabsorbed by said water to produce uniform cooling in each of saidplurality of tubes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,684,083 9/1928 Bloom 16S-1752,129,987 9/1938 Berkson 62--514 2,612,760 10/1952 Baggette 62-5143,001,374 9/1961 Hutton 62-514 3,234,755 2/ 1966 Richelli 16S-1753,242,979 3/1966 Shlosinger 165-46 3,425,487 2/1969 Tucker 16S-46WILLIAM J. WYE, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

